Page 24 of Curious Hearts (The Healing Hearts #2)

“How does that feel?” Ali asked, her voice rough with her own arousal as she watched Jessica’s pleasure build. Fuck, this was so hot. She almost had to pinch herself to believe it was real.

“Good,” Jessica gasped, the word breaking as Ali changed the angle slightly. “So good—please?—”

Ali lowered her head, her tongue joining the vibrator in its exploration, tasting Jessica for the first time—salt and sweetness and heat. The combination of sensations drew a sharp cry from Jessica, her hand flying to tangle in Ali’s hair.

The sound Jessica made was answer enough—a deep, guttural moan that Ali felt in her own core.

She established a rhythm, alternating between broad strokes of her tongue and focused attention where Jessica needed it most, all while maintaining the steady pressure of the vibrator.

She watched Jessica’s reactions carefully, noting how her breathing changed, how her muscles tensed, how her hips moved to meet each touch.

Ali pressed the vibrator firmer toward Jessica, teasing her entrance while her tongue continued its work. “Inside?” she asked, pausing just long enough to see Jessica nod frantically.

She pressed the vibrator in slowly, feeling Jessica’s body yield and then tighten around the intrusion.

The sight nearly undid Ali—Jessica spread before her, taking the vibrator inch by inch, her chest flushed and heaving, her head thrown back in abandon.

Ali worked the device in a steady rhythm, angling its natural curve forward to find the spot that made Jessica cry out, her free hand splayed across the sheets to steady her increasingly frantic movements.

“Please,” Jessica begged, the word barely recognizable. “Please don’t stop?—”

Ali had no intention of stopping. She returned her mouth to Jessica’s center, tongue circling in counterpoint to the vibrator’s thrusts.

Jessica’s usual articulation had completely deserted her, replaced by broken pleas and half-formed words.

Her hands found Ali’s hair, gripping tightly, guiding her to exactly where she needed her most.

“You like this?” Ali asked, before increasing the speed of both her tongue and the vibrator, aware of Jessica thighs beginning to tremble.

“Yes,” Jessica managed, the word dissolving into a series of sharp, desperate sounds as she approached the edge. “Ali—I’m?—”

Ali redoubled her efforts, her tongue relentless, the vibrator pulsing steadily against that perfect spot inside Jessica.

She could feel the tremors build, could taste the change in Jessica’s arousal, could hear the pitch of her cries climbing higher.

Jessica’s thighs began to shake uncontrollably, her body going rigid for one suspended moment before she broke, crying out Ali’s name as waves of pleasure crashed through her.

Ali gentled her movements but didn’t stop, easing Jessica through her climax, watching in fascination as her body convulsed around the vibrator.

She gradually slowed the device and lightened the pressure of her tongue as Jessica’s sensitivity increased, pressing soft kisses to her inner thighs as the aftershocks subsided.

Jessica pulled her up for a messy, desperate kiss. “That was...” she panted, unable to find words.

Ali smiled against her mouth. “Better than your fantasy?”

“So much better,” Jessica admitted, her face softening, and Ali knew she was the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. They lay together for several minutes, Ali’s fingers painting light figure of eights over Jessica’s stomach.

“Now it’s my turn,” Jessica said, pushing herself up on one elbow, and then moving to straddle Ali. She was taller, fuller in frame, with breasts that begged to be licked, sucked, teased.

Ali tried to push herself up to take one of rock-hard nipples into her mouth, but Jessica pushed her back down against the sheets.

What Jessica might have lacked in experience, she made up for in determination and attention to detail. She approached Ali’s body with the same focused intensity she brought to investment strategies, mapping reactions with methodical precision.

Her mouth found Ali’s breast, teeth grazing the sensitive underside in a way that made Ali think she would come right there and then. The wet heat of Jessica’s tongue against her nipple contrasted with the cooler air of the room, and Ali’s hips lifted involuntarily from the mattress.

“I’ve been watching you,” Jessica murmured against Ali’s skin. “Imagining what you like.”

“Have you now?” Ali managed, voice unsteady as Jessica’s mouth traveled to her other breast.

Jessica hummed an affirmative, the vibration tingling against sensitive flesh. “The way you touch your neck when you’re thinking. How you press your fingers here—” she demonstrated with a firm stroke along Ali’s collarbone, “—when you’re stressed.”

The realization that Jessica had been studying her, cataloguing her movements, was beyond hot. Jessica’s hands continued their exploration, discovering the ticklish spot on Ali’s ribs that made her squirm, the sensitive hollow of her hip that drew a gasp when pressed.

Jessica’s confidence in bed was mesmerizing. She moved with deliberate purpose, trailing open-mouthed kisses down Ali’s torso, tongue dipping into her navel, teeth nipping at the soft skin below.

“Take these off,” she demanded, fingers hooking into the waistband of Ali’s sweatpants.

Ali nodded, hard and fast, lifting her hips to help Jessica remove the last barrier between them.

The cool air against her exposed center made Ali acutely aware of how wet she was, the evidence of her arousal glistening on her inner thighs. Jessica’s sharp inhale as she took in the sight sent a shiver of self-consciousness through Ali, quickly dispelled by the naked hunger in Jessica’s eyes.

“Fuck,” Jessica whispered, hands running up Ali’s calves, thumbs pressing into the muscle, working higher with maddening slowness. “I want to taste you.”

The words, spoken in Jessica’s precise diction, were more erotic than any seduction Ali had ever experienced. Her head fell back against the pillows, eyes closing as Jessica’s hands reached her thighs, thumbs tracing circles that inched closer to where she needed her most.

“Wider.” Jessica pushed Ali’s legs farther apart. “I want to see how much you want my mouth on you.”

Jessica maintained eye contact as she lowered her head, pressing a kiss to Ali’s inner thigh, then another, higher. The anticipation was almost unbearable, Ali’s body tensing with each point of contact. When Jessica’s breath finally ghosted across her center, Ali’s hips jerked involuntarily.

The first touch of Jessica’s tongue was tentative but purposeful, drawing a long stroke through Ali’s folds that ended with a delicate flick across her clit. The sensation pulled a sharp cry from Ali’s throat, her hands fisting in the sheets.

“Like that?” Jessica asked, and Ali could hear the smile in her voice.

“Yes,” Ali gasped.

“Good, because I’m going to fuck you until you forget your own name.”

Ali’s body responded with a rush of heat that left her lightheaded. Jessica’s gaze held hers, dark and intent.

“Please,” Ali managed, the single syllable containing everything she couldn’t articulate.

Jessica smiled—not the measured, professional expression Ali had grown accustomed to, but something wilder, almost predatory. She lowered her head again, this time with newfound confidence that took Ali’s breath away.

Where Ali had been methodical and patient with Jessica, Jessica was decisive and commanding with her.

She established a rhythm that kept Ali perpetually off-balance—moments of gentle exploration followed by precisely targeted intensity that had Ali arching off the bed.

Jessica seemed to intuitively understand exactly when to build and when to back off, keeping Ali hovering at the edge of pleasure without tipping over.

“I’ve thought about this,” Jessica murmured against Ali’s inner thigh, “every night since you walked into my house wearing that blue dress.”

Ali tried to respond, but Jessica chose that moment to return her mouth to where Ali needed her most, stealing whatever words might have formed. The sensation was overwhelming—Jessica’s tongue tracing patterns that seemed designed specifically to unravel her completely.

“Jessica,” Ali gasped, her hands finding Jessica’s shoulders, needing an anchor as sensation threatened to overwhelm her. “Please, I need?—”

“I know exactly what you need,” Jessica interrupted, her voice steady despite their activities. She looked up, maintaining eye contact as she slid two fingers inside Ali with perfect pressure. “And I’ll give it to you when I’m ready.”

The statement, delivered with such calm authority, nearly undid Ali completely.

She’d always been the one in control during intimacy, the one setting the pace, the one giving pleasure rather than surrendering to it.

But Jessica—composed, precise Jessica—was dismantling her defenses with surgical precision.

“Tell me how it feels,” Jessica commanded, adding a third finger with a deliberate slowness that had Ali clutching at the sheets.

“Good,” Ali managed, the word entirely inadequate. “So good.”

“Better than good,” Jessica corrected, curling her fingers forward to find the spot that made Ali’s vision blur at the edges. “I want to hear you say it.”

“Amazing,” Ali gasped, hips lifting involuntarily. “Perfect—Jessica, please?—”

Jessica’s rhythm was relentless yet measured, her fingers working in concert with her mouth, building Ali toward a peak that seemed both inevitable and impossibly distant.

Ali lost track of time, lost in the building pressure that Jessica somehow kept just short of release.

Her world narrowed to the points of contact between them—Jessica’s mouth, her fingers, the weight of her free hand holding Ali’s hip firmly in place.

“Look at me,” Jessica commanded, briefly lifting her head. “I want to see your eyes when you come.”

Ali forced her eyes open, meeting Jessica’s gaze. The connection intensified everything—the physical sensations, yes, but also something deeper, something that made Ali’s chest ache with unexpected emotion.

“Now,” Jessica said, the single word both permission and command. She curled her fingers more firmly inside Ali, her mouth returning with renewed purpose.

Ali’s release crashed through her with an intensity that tore a cry from her throat.

Wave after wave of pleasure radiated outward from her core, her body convulsing around Jessica’s fingers.

Jessica stayed with her, easing her through the peak and into the aftershocks, gentling her touch but not stopping until Ali weakly pushed at her shoulder, too sensitive for more.

Jessica moved up beside her, gathering Ali against her chest as she trembled through the aftermath.

Ali buried her face in the curve of Jessica’s neck, breathing in the scent of her skin mingled with the evidence of their activities.

She felt utterly undone, exposed in a way that would have terrified her with anyone else.

“That was...” Ali trailed off, words failing her.

“Worth the wait?” Jessica supplied, a confident smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Ali laughed softly, still catching her breath. “Where did you learn to do that?”

Jessica tucked a strand of hair behind Ali’s ear, her touch unexpectedly tender after the intensity of what they’d just shared. “I pay attention,” she said simply. “And I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do with you.”

The admission made Ali’s chest warm. “Tell me more about these thoughts,” she murmured, tracing Jessica’s collarbone with her fingertip.

“Later,” Jessica said, pulling Ali closer. “Next time.”

“Next time?”

“Next time,” Jessica confirmed, threading her fingers through Ali’s hair.

They lay together in comfortable silence, limbs intertwined, skin cooling in the night air.

Ali felt herself drifting toward sleep, more content than she could remember being in years.

The last thing she registered before consciousness slipped away was Jessica pressing a kiss to her forehead, her arms tightening around Ali as if afraid she might disappear.

“Ali?” Jessica murmured, voice thick with approaching sleep.

“Hmm?”

“I’m glad it was you,” Jessica whispered. “That Vivian chose you.”

The words warmed Ali from the inside out, more intimate somehow than everything that had come before. She pressed a kiss to Jessica’s forehead, her eyes growing heavy.

“Me too,” she whispered to the darkness.

At the foot of the bed, Empress returned, settling into a tight circle as if nothing extraordinary had happened. Ali’s last conscious thought was that Vivian Porter, wherever she was, had known exactly what she was doing all along